The future of Digital cameras

Check this out. In the future adobe will be able to add aperature and focus slider bars to its list of RAW adjustments. The only decision you will have to make in the water is shutter speed....

http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/lfcame...mera-600dpi.pdf

9 Conclusion

This paper demonstrates a simple optical modification to existing

digital cameras that causes the photosensor to sample the in-camera

light field. This modification is achieved without altering the external

operation of the camera. Coupled with custom software processing,

the acquired light fields provide unique photographic capabilities,

such as the ability to digitally refocus the scene after exposure,

extend the depth of field while maintaining high signal-tonoise

ratio, and alter the viewpoint and perspective.

The fact that these capabilities scale linearly with directional resolution

allows the design to be gradually adopted as the march of

VLSI provides excess sensor resolution that may be allocated to directional

sampling. We believe that through this mechanism the design

of every lens-based digital imaging system could usefully converge

to some parameterization of the light field camera paradigm.

Interesting! But if you do all these adjustments in the computer, will it still be photography or just post-processing?

There is some cool stuff coming - that isn't too "freaky."

Software will soon be able to correct for camera shake. Satellite images already use this. Software IS/VR - pretty cool eh?

Cheers

James

It is our job as photographers to come up with creative ways of using these new tools underwater to take images that we never could before.

Bring it on!

Alex

It is our job as photographers to come up with creative ways of using these new tools underwater to take images that we never could before.

 

Bring it on!

 

Alex

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Gee, all we'll have to do is send the camera to a dive site and have it email us the photos! <_<

Jack

Here's me, holding the light field camera that article talks about:

Here's Ren, the principle guy, with the modified camera:

A cool presentation is linked from my site:

http://echeng.com/journal/index.php?p=988

I used to play music with Ren...

From today, art is dead! (Fox Talbot?)

Ahh, John, art may be dead (again) but you've still got to be there to take the photo!

At least that won't disappear. And if the vis is as bad as it was last time I dived then it'ud be miraculous if anything could take a decent image!

Now we just have to get that sucker in a housing. Screw on some big dioptre and go do some infinite DOF super macro. Yeah!

Alex

p.s. You should show this to all those guys as DPReview who spend all day arguing that FF is best because you get less DOF!

It's not *quite* that easy, and there are some pretty big limitations with the technology at the moment. Turns out that practically (right now), you're able to get good DOF increases for relatively large apertures. But when you start stopping down, the benefit of the tech. decreases. It also uses a high-res sensor, but yields a low-res photo, so sensors will have to increase in resolution by a couple of magnitudes, first.

It might become practical at the moment for low-res applications first: camera phones, etc.

It's not *quite* that easy, and there are some pretty big limitations with the technology at the moment.   Turns out that practically (right now), you're able to get good DOF increases for relatively large apertures. But when you start stopping down, the benefit of the tech. decreases.  It also uses a high-res sensor, but yields a low-res photo, so sensors will have to increase in resolution by a couple of magnitudes, first.

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But as the technology evolves this will be a fantastic tool. Imagine being able to work at mid-range apertures, where the lenses typically perform bettery optically, yet still get maximum depth of field. You have the best of both worlds, great optical performance and hyperfocal distance. B)

I guess the D4X set to scan macro combined with the SB 2000 scanning strobe

should give you the DOF needed, just dial in say 50mm and focus, press the button , the flash sends out a series of thin scan flashes across the preset 50mm linked to the cameras focus and it all happened so fast it appeared as a single flash. Perfectly sharp Nudi from front to back !

Just dont ask me about fill flash

Dave

From today, art is dead! (Fox Talbot?)

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Don't worry John, ars is still longa, it's god that is dead, and vita that's brevis.

Robert

Looks like new life for medium format - the late Contax 645 was used.

Tom